15TH ANNUAL SMOKE ON THE LAKE BBQ FESTIVAL
FRIDAY, MAY 9TH & SATURDAY, MAY 10TH, 2025

Join us for great music, delicious barbecue, and cold beer!

Smoke on the Lake BBQ Festival is an annual tradition enjoyed each Mother’s Day Weekend at Logan Farm Park in Acworth, Georgia. Thousands attend to enjoy BBQ cooked by competitive backyard cook teams.

Cook Teams are subject to public judging on Chicken Wings Friday night and Pork on Saturday. Be sure to purchase Tasters Tickets to vote for your favorites. Friday night features a live music concert under the stars.

Rotary Club of North Cobb hosts this charity fundraiser event with 90% of net proceeds benefiting local charities and 10% benefiting charities outside of the United States.

Thank you City of Acworth, Georgia for your partnership, to JRM Event Management for a smooth weekend, the Georgia Barbecue Association (GBA) for the judging and to all of the smoking teams!

Did you know?

The Georgia Barbecue Association (GBA) is the second largest barbecue competition sanctioning organization in the state of Georgia. The Georgia Barbecue Association sanctions dozens of contests every year and has grown to over 600 members, 400+ certified judges, more than 180 competition cook teams.

Be sure to join the GBA Family before the next event!

PHOTOS & OVERALL RANKING RESULTS FROM THE 2024 EVENT

1 Backyard Barbecue - GBA Grand Champion Backyard Barbecue, Backyard Chicken Winner

2 Apalachee High School Barb B-Cats GBA Reserve Champion Backyard Barbecue, Backyard Ribs Winner

3 Meat by the Fire

4 Dumpster Fire BBQ

5 Butcher's Best

6 Chili Mo's Barbecue - Backyard Pork Winner

7 Southern Thunder BBQ Cooking School

8 Dawgs Rip-n Hawgs - People’s Choice Pork

9 Hickory Flat BBQ Co

10 Holy Smokes

11 Pig Out Bar B Q

12 Grease Fire BBQ - Lord of the Wings Champion

13 Smoaking Embers

14 Ring of Fire

15 Smoking N Joking BBQ

16 Croc-N-Que Kings

17 Dawgs Smokin' Hawgs

18 Mr. G's Que

19 J.D.'s Bar-B-Que

20 Sweet Bottom BBQ

21 North Star Church

22 Underage Smokers

23 Knotty Pretzels

24 Bonavic

5-10 pm Friday & 11 am-4 pm Saturday

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5-10 pm Friday & 11 am-4 pm Saturday |

5:00 PM - 10:00 PM FRIDAY NIGHT

The LORD OF THE WINGS contest pits the BBQ teams against each other so the attendees’ judge “who’s got the best wings”! Hungry patrons purchase “Taster Tickets from friendly North Cobb Rotarians and then test the cook teams wings and vote for the best wings. Additional food options are provided by 1885 Grill, Williamson Brothers BBQ, Carter & Cash Coffee & Saloon, and food vendors.

293 BAND will perform classic and contemporary dance, pop, and rock hits from 8 pm to 10 pm. Two beer tents will be sponsored by Crane Elder Law Firm and Edge Home Finance featuring Acworth’s own Red Top Brewhouse beer (served cold). Reserve a 6-seat table for $100 on this website or listen to the free concert on a blanket on the lawn.

11:00 AM - 4:00 PM SATURDAY

Saturday features our PEOPLES’ CHOICE PORK contest. Cook teams compete with their pulled pork and patrons vote with their gold tickets for their favorite pork. Patrons: purchase Taster Tickets from friendly North Cobb Rotarians. Cook teams also compete on chicken and ribs with judges from the Georgia Barbecue Association (GBA).

Acworth Elementary School Chorus will sing at 11:30 am, School of Rock West Cobb will perform from 12:00 PM – 3:00 pm, and Fusion Dance Company will take the stage from 1-1:30 PM & 3-3:30 pm. School of Rock West Cobb teaches students to play musical instruments with skill and confidence thanks to help from highly qualified instructors. Fusion Dance Company offers all forms of dance from ballet to street hip hop and everything in between. 

Rotary Club of North Cobb partners with the City of Acworth and the Acworth Business Association (ABA) to ensure the success of this event. City Staff including Mayor Tommy Allegood, City Manager James Albright, and Police Chief Jesse Evans lead their staffs in the support of Smoke on the Lake, and North Cobb Rotary is grateful for their support.

  • 10 Women of Hope

  • Acworth Art House

  • Acworth Community Garden

  • Acworth Expanding Horizons Program

  • Acworth Police Community Foundation

  • Boy Scouts of America (BSA) in Marietta

  • Center for Children & Young Adults (CCYA)

  • City of Acworth Senior Holiday Lunch

  • City of Kennesaw Senior Lunches

  • Cobb County Schools Foundation

  • Cobb County Senior Services

  • Cobb County Veteran’s Memorial

BENEFICIARIES

  • Cobb County Veterans Treatment and Accountability Court

  • Cobb Sheriff’s Foundation

  • Cobb Thanks You for Your Service Veterans Program

  • Davis Direction & Zone

  • Devereux Behavioral Health Georgia

  • Dignity Project to Keep Girls in School

  • Forever Fed

  • Georgia Vietnam Veterans Alliance (GVVA) Holiday Food Program

  • Hook’d On the Blue

  • Horizon Special Needs Field

  • Kennesaw Public Safety Foundation

  • LiveSafe Resources

  • Mountain Top Boys Home

  • MUST Ministries Lunch Program

  • Northwest YMCA Summer Feeding Program

  • Pine Mountain Middle School

  • Power of Peace Leadership Program

  • Rescuing Hope

  • Rotary Interact Clubs at North Cobb High School, Kennesaw Mountain High School and other local high schools

  • S. H. A. R. E. Military Initiative

  • ServeComm

  • The Men’s and Women’s Extension

  • Veteran’s Luncheon

90% of net proceeds benefit local charities and 10% benefit charities outside of the United States.

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS